Snow clearing implement



June 23, 1959 v, M HY 7 2,891,330

SNOW CLEARING IMPLEMENT Filed May-2'7, 1957 Frank V. Murphy INVENTOR.

BY 4 ww-m nited Stat s. Pa .9"

2,891,330 P t ted ne 23, .959

fit. t SNOW CLEARlNG lMPLEMENT.

Frank V. Murphy, Freeport, N.Y., assignor of one-sixth to Thomas J.Murphy, Freeport, one-sixth to Leo J. Murphy, Merrick, one-sixth toFrances G. Murphy, Freeport, one-sixth to George A. Murphy, Seaford,onesixth to Kathleen V. Murphy, Freeport, and one-sixth to Joseph W.Murphy, Merrick, N.Y.

Application May 27, 1957, Serial No. 661,642

1 Claim. (Cl. 37-53) The present invention relates to certain new anduseful improvements in implements which are expressly designed andadapted to scrape and clear accumulated snow from ones pavement,walkway, driveway or similar surface in and around front and rear doorsfor obvious purposes. More particularly, the invention pertains to achannel-like elongated scoop having scraping means at its leading endand handle means at its trailing end. The user holds the scoop in aforwardly and downwardly inclined position and as he walks along andscoops up the snow, it is channeled upwardly and rearwardly for disposalpurposes.

If one were to run a survey uncovering the state of development of theart to which the invention'relates, he would soon learn that implementsof the above named character are, generally speaking, old. That is tosay snow plows and handle-equipped scoops have been offered by others.While numerous prior patents could be referred to as typical, it willsuffice to make reference briefly to the Stevenson Snow Plow covered inPatent No. 2,114,641 of April 19, 1938. He discloses a forwardly pushedplow or implement which may be categorized as a scoop and which hasmarginal wall means so cooperating with the blade means that a laterallydisposed flared side emptying discharge member or moldboard functions tounload the snow to one side as the implement is handled in a well knownscraping and shoveling manner.

The obvious objective here is to structurally, functionally andotherwise improve upon prior art scoop-type snow scrapers having sidedumping or emptying facilities. To this end the present invention has todo with an elongated channel-like scoop, the upper discharge end ofwhich is constructed and arranged to empty the upwardly moving load ofsnow into a trough-like trap, said trap being so constructed andinclined and laterally disposed that it functions as a trapping anddumping chute. Therefore the collected snow is shunted to one side ofthe surface which is being cleaned where it piles up and is out of theway in an advantageous snow clearing manner.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the views:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a snow clearing and dumping implementconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view on a slightly enlargedscale with parts omitted and with the section taken on the plane of theline 2--2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 3 is a section at right angles to Fig. 2 taken on the plane of thevertical line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawing the vertically inclined elongated scoop isdenoted, as an entity by the numeral 6.

The scoop will be made of lightweight but sturdy sheet material which ispreferably non-corrodible. The longitudinal flanges or' side walls 8 and10'are parallel and of suitable heighttuprovide a relatively shallowchannelway; The bottom of the channel or scoop has a forward suitablysharpened leading edge 12 which is a satisfactory scraping edge and ifdesired a reinforcing cleat or bar 14 may be placed on the underneathside of the bottom to cooperate and to provide a suitably reinforcedscraping edge. The leading end portion of the bottom of the scoop orchannel is substantially flat at 16. The remaining portions of thebottom are of undulated form and the undulations are denoted by thenumerals 18, 20 and 22. These humps have been found to assist the ridingor climbing of the accumulated snow with the result that there is lesslikelihood of its sticking or hanging. In other words, this bottom withthe undulations facilitates the flow or movement of the snow from theintake to the discharge end of the scoop. The discharge end 24 isarranged to overlie a lip flange 26 at an intake end portion of thecooperating laterally disposed snow trapping and shunting chute denotedgenerally at 28. This chute is sometimes referred to as a trough-liketrap and it has a bottom 30, one end of which is rolled at 32 andfastened around a cooperating limb 34 of the U-shaped push-pull handle36. The bottom cooperates with the confining sides 38 and 40 and thesides in conjunction with the slanting bottom 42 provide a wide mouthoutlet at 44. This outlet or discharge end portion of the chute extendswell beyond the limb 46 of the handle where it serves to cause the snowto gravitate and be shunted to the side of the path along which theimplement is being gradually pushed by the user in a seemingly obviousmanner. The numeral 48 designates the bight portion of the handle and 50designates a reinforcing rod or tube 50 of rigid but lightweight fromaround which a marginal edge portion of the chute wall is curled andfastened in place at 52.

The free end portion of the limb 46 is suitably fastened to the upperend portion of the flange 8 as at 54. It will be noticed that theintermediate portion of the reinforceing tube is riveted or otherwisesecured at 56 to a median portion of the limb 46 to thus provide a wellbalanced and sturdy construction.

Briefly summarized, the preferred embodiment of the concept has to dowith the shallow open ended channellike scoop 6 with the undulatedbottom and which has its upper open end discharging into the rightangularly disposed easy-dumping chute which is denoted generally by thenumeral 58. Novelty is also predicated on the construction which issupported and reinforced on and by the limbs of the U-shaped handlecarried by the upper discharge end portion of the scoop.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows: I

A snow clearing implement comprising an elongated scoop channel-shapedin cross-section and having a bottom wall and side walls, said bottomhaving longitudinally spaced transversely extending undulationsextending between the side walls and functioning as means which assistin the passage of snow as it gradually accumulates and channels its waythrough the scoop, a substantially U- shaped handle having a bightportion and limbs, the limbs having their forward ends connected to theupward ends of the side walls of the scoop, a trough-like chute at rightangles at the upper end of said scoop and having an outwardly andlaterally inclined bottom and having References Cited in the file ofthis patent one end portion rolled upon itself and joined with an endUNITED STATES PATENTS portion of one of the limbs of the handle andhaving an 2,823,470 Page Feb 18, 1958 edge portion rolled and secured toa cross brace mounted between the limbs of the handle so that the chuteis thus 5 GN PATENTS supported primarily by the handle to facilitateunloading 21,670 Gr at Britai D 11, 1391 and dumping of the trapped snowfrom said chute. of 1891

